For the Greatest Good, the Darkest Evil
by Red And Gold Serpant
Summary: In all honesty Tom Riddle wasn't sure why he was speaking to Albus Dumbledore, maybe to give him the chance to stop him, to see if the old man had it in him.


"You would destroy the wizarding world like that?" The old man could not believe the words he was hearing, he did not want to believe them. The wizarding world had already suffered enough at the hands of Grindelwald, they did not need to suffer any further, he wasn't even sure the wizarding world could survive another villain like Grindelwald. He looked at the man in front of him and shook his head, "you could very well obliterate what little has survived from the last war."

"I'm not destroying the world; I'm simply giving them an incentive to save it. If they are focused on fighting me, they will realize just how lax they've become with their magic. They will have no choice but to unlock their potential if they hope to defeat me. It's a genius plan really." The young man smiled satisfied with his idea. In all honesty he wasn't sure why he was speaking to the professor in front of him, maybe to give him the chance to stop him, to see if the old man had it in him.

The man behind the desk lowered his eyes sadly and frowned before turning his face toward the fire in its hearth. "So you would make yourself into a monster, do terrible things, kill hundreds of innocent people, all just for the possibility that the wizarding world might 'unlock their potential'? They had a common enemy in Grindelwald and a powerful foe and yet it did not bring them together or make them fight harder but drove them further apart and further into hiding, your war will be no different from his and it'll end in the same manner."

The young man smiled slowly and then chuckled. "You don't understand everything, not completely. I will not fail like Grindelwald; I will be stronger and more terrifying than he ever was. I'm not going to try and rule over the muggles like Grindelwald so foolishly did, they're secondary to my ultimate goal, merely a means to create fear. I will gain tremendous power. I can erase the scourge on this world, those too weak or too frightened to come to my side. Only the strongest, the most intelligent can be worthy of the name wizard; if that means our world will have fewer living in it, then so be it. Things always have to get worse before they can get better. Besides professor, you and I both know that I am already a monster. "

The young man was correct. Albus knew exactly what character of person was standing in front of him. He knew that there was actually very little humanity left in the dark young man, but he hoped, he always hoped that maybe he could appeal to what was left. Maybe this one last time he would listen and he would finally understand. "So it's power that you seek then is it Tom? Your purpose is not just to awaken all of us, but to gain power as well. To what ends if you destroy everything? You would rule only a wasteland unworthy of conquering. There are different means of gaining power Tom; you do not have to turn to darkness to do so."

Tom smiled at the man in front of him. A cold smile that lacked all the warmth any normal person would have. "To my own ends of course. You didn't think I'd become the villain without getting something out of it did you? I will be powerful and I will be terrifying, and I will be unstoppable, I will live forever. But our world will change for the better, you can be sure of that. Their magic will flourish under me. They will dream up new ways to fight, they will create new spells and they will unite under me, or they will rise against me and they will fall. You never really understood did you Albus? Things born of darkness cannot flourish in the light. There is no power for a dark thing in a bright world. My world will be dark, and it'll be magnificent."

Albus Dumbledore removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes as he sighed. He was tired of all this. He had lived a long time and would live longer still, but it was occasions like this one that he truly wished for some kind of rest. Be it death or something less permanent. He was an old man, and yet he felt older still, as if he had lived two lifetimes instead of one and it was exhausting. "You don't have to be this person Tom, you can be so much better than this. You can achieve so much more than you think. Why do you insist on playing the villain? Surely there are other ways? There have to be better ways to do this."

Tom shook his head. "No, no other ways that would work. You know exactly what type of man I am Professor. You knew what I would someday become. You knew from the moment you found me in that orphanage, from the moment you heard my story. You know I could not be anything but what I am today. Don't pretend to be surprised professor."

"No Tom, I am not surprised, just saddened. I had hoped that perhaps I was wrong this time, that maybe I had read you wrong. But alas, some things cannot be." The old man looked up at Tom sadness in his eyes but also a resigned acceptance. He knew now without a doubt that there was no saving the man in front of him. That the world would be forever changed because an old fool did not have the heart to crush the bud before it blossomed. And still he could not resist one last attempt to save the man in front of him. He was already haunted by the memory of the last dark wizard that he could not save. "Are you sure this is how it has to be? Are you sure that this is what you want?"

There was no hesitation in Tom's voice when he spoke. "I'm sure Professor. This is what I want, and this is how it will be. This is how it was always meant to be."

Albus nodded his head resigned to his fate and the fate of the man in front of him; the fate he was knowingly subjecting the rest of the world to. "I'm afraid then Tom, that from here on out, we must be enemies; it is only right."

Tom Riddle nodded his head. "It was never possible for us to be anything else." He paused and looked around the room before he returned his gaze to his teacher. "I'm sure we will see each other again sir, and when that time comes, I will be stronger, and I will be the last face you see before you die."

With a twinkle in his eye the old man smiled sadly. "I'm sure that you will make every effort to do so. But it will not be you who kills me Tom, though I'm certain you will play a hand in it."

Tilting his head to the side Tom smiled at the old man. "Tom is dead. The next time you see me I will have another name and that name will strike fear into anyone who hears it. Wherever that name is uttered I shall be there to ensure that the lips that spoke it are worthy, or they shall never speak another word again. The next time you see me, I will no longer be the boy you knew or even the man that you know now. I will be someone else entirely. Someone who you would never recognize and I will have power."

The professor nodded his head. He knew the words that the man in front of him spoke were true. "Even then I'm afraid I will remember you as what you always were to me; the intelligent orphan with the bright eyes and incredible potential." The old man smiled and nodded to the man in front of him. "Farewell Tom."

Acknowledging the name the old man still chose to call him, Tom nodded his head as well. "Farewell Albus. You have taught me all you could, and now, I'll go out into the world to learn what you would not teach me and what you could not. I'll be the monster this world needs to flourish and you will hate me for it."

"No Tom, I could never feel hate towards you, only sadness whenever your name or your deeds may arise. I cannot stop you now, nor will I be the one to stop you in the future, but someday you will be stopped and hopefully I will not have to bear witness to it. So once again Tom, goodbye, and may your mind and your intentions change though I suspect they will not."

"No Albus, they will not." With that the man named Tom Riddle turned and left Albus Dumbledore's office for the last time.


End file.
